Registration for the National Events in Langley, BC, is live. https://www.canadiancornholeleagues.com/nationals2024.html.
Reminder when you register. Print a copy of the receipt because the Saskatchewan Cornhole Association will reimburse players for one event.
I wrote last week about our Friday Funholio and the discussion among players about the format. Cornhole is an awesome game, and I have talked at great lengths about the people in our cornhole community and how awesome they are. However, people are still people and have different opinions on different subjects related to our game. Friday night is always meant to be fun and a great place for new people to come out, enjoy a zero-pressure atmosphere, and learn the game we all love. The word “FUN” means something different to different people. The definition can change for the same person as they progress in the game. This is why this conversation has no right or wrong answer, and no matter what format the club tries, the decision will be right in some people’s opinion and wrong in others. No opinion is wrong because it depends on what you want from the game. I ask as we move through the conversation, and as the club tries things, we stay respectful in voicing our opinions. We were all newbies once, and we all started by trying to land bags on the board. For most of us, it all started at a Friday Night Switcholio.
Change can be hard for people. Change for the sake of change is some people’s worst nightmare. Why change something if it isn’t broken? I would push back on the idea that if we do not try, how do we know? I am not suggesting we change every week, but maybe we can try a different system occasionally and see how players enjoy it. I know we will likely not get a consensus on the system, but we should be able to determine if it is a good or bad change for our Friday night. Other clubs have used these systems for years, so they cannot be all bad.
Our Friday is a Switcholio, everyone is in one group, and we get paired up randomly through the round robin. Then, the standings’ top and bottom half are randomly paired to form teams for one playoff bracket, which is a change from previous years. When I started, the first place in the top of the standings would get paired with the last place in the bottom, and then it would move to the middle of the standings, pairing players up. Then, the system moved to the first of the top half being paired with the first of the bottom half, down to the bottom. We do it randomly, so finishing first or in the middle of the top half of the standings is not beneficial or detrimental. We all tell ourselves it is for fun, but people watch their position closely and know who their partner is before they are even paired with them. I would say this change has been a positive to our Friday night.
I will touch on a few systems in the next few weeks, and we can discuss whether we should try something. Who knows, but I think it is healthy for us to try new things.
The first variation of the Switch has the round-robin playing the exact same way. The difference comes when we hit the bracket. We would have two separate brackets for the top and bottom of the standings. The bracket pairings would come from the top for the one bracket and the bottom for the second bracket. A positive would be that we would be giving out prizes to both brackets so that it would spread the money out a bit. The other would be that each bracket would play games closer to their skill level. A drawback could be that we separate our players into sides. Another is that some newbies like and wait to see if they get a good draw and can play a bracket with a top-tiered player. Another fear is that the top bracket becomes too competitive, which takes away from the fun and goal of Friday night.
Stay tuned for other variations of our beloved Friday Funholio.
Onto this week of play because there was a lot of it.
I was not going to spend a lot of time on league play this week because we have a Regional Tourney, but this night was too good not to bring up. On Monday Ladies Night, Kim continued her dominance by winning the night. She had to come from the B-side because of Dana Grane. I have talked about Dana before and how she threw a great bag the first time she came out. Dana has been playing more, which is showing because she is in the mix at every event she plays. With Dana sitting in the Queen Seat, she was ready for Kim to try and knock her off. Dana fired an unbelievable 6.5 PPR in game one, but believe it or not, it was not enough because Kim fired a 7.5 PPR. Game 2 was a battle that lasted 16 rounds, and both players were lights out. Dana upped her game to 7.13 PPR, but it still was not enough to fend off Kim, who shot a 7.56 PPR. To put this in perspective, these PPRs are Tier 4 (Pigeon) and getting into Hawk territory.
The Hawks and Pigeons were soaring on Tuesday night, a great warm-up for the Sunday Regional. Again, I was not going to spend much time writing about Tuesday knowing there was a Regional Sunday, but the players made that impossible. To put the Hawks in perspective, Stich went 0-4, shooting a 7.74 PPR…WHAT…YA that is unbelievable, both Stich actually shooting a 7.74, and the fact it was not enough to secure a win. Six players were above 8 PPR and one was above 9 PPR after the round-robin. Patches, Rick and Newson all seemed to find their game once we hit the bracket, but in the end, it took Patches two games but he defended his King Seat for the Tuesday night victory.
TOP PPR
- Spilly – 8.93
- Crystal – 8.63
- Glenny – 8.3
The Pigeons also made it impossible to not go into detail about the play on Tuesday. I am not sure if the board conditions were different but everyone was shooting unbelievably well. Shawn who has been on the cusp of finding his game in the last few weeks came out shooting fire in the bracket. He lost to Ringo in the A-final, but came back to double dip Ringo to take the win. The second game and the win that gave him his victory, Shawn shot an impressive 9 PPR.
TOP PPR
- B-RAD – 7.76
- Shawn – 7.29
- Furious George – 7.14
The Penguins were back at it on Wednesday playing a Switch format. Kim ended up being the ghost again as she walked through to a victory. Brian and Janice gave her a great run in the final but came up short.
TOP PPR
- Kim – 6.54
- Brian – 6.03
- Timmy – 5.73
Sunday Regional came early Sunday morning when bags flew at 10:00AM. Penguins, Pigeons and Hawks were flying, well the penguins can’t fly but they were tossing great games. Kim found herself sitting where she normally sits, on her throne. Andrew, who put the smackdown on Joe in the B-final was primed and ready to see if he could take the throne away. Andrew won a close one in game one, 22-19, but in game two, Kim, with a 6.14 PPR, held onto her Penguin Kingdom.
Top PPR
- Kim – 6.61
- Andrew – 5.87
- Joe – 5.43
The Pigeon event featured 15 players, including two from Saskatoon. Once again, the competition was fierce, and the PPRs were soaring. This Tier is crazy good, and there are five or six players that could come out on top. I cannot remember who was in the King Seat, but the two Bonnie’s were battling on the main stage. Day and Polsom battled it out over 16 rounds and in the end Bonnie P was off to face the King. In game one, the A side was up 17-6 before an epic collapse and a loss 21-17. Bonnie continued her hot streak in game two as she double-dipped Stich to take the Regional Tier 4 title.
Top PPR
- Bonnie 7.2
- Jason – 7.11
- Oopsidacey – 7.03
The Hawks division saw three OG Sask Cornhole League players battling. Newson, sitting in the King Seat, was waiting for Caesar and Glen as they had a great battle for the chance to win the Hawk title. Glen, shooting an 8.4 PPR, edged Caesar for the chance to take Kevin on for the win. Having to double-dip Newson, Glen took game one, but then in game two, Kevin turned it on to take the Regional Tier 3 Single title.
Top PPR
- Newson – 8.97
- Spilly – 8.68
- Caesar – 8.35
In doubles, the Penguins were forced to play with the Pigeons due to not having enough teams in Tier 5; I did hear Penguins were going extinct, haha. Joe and Kim battled all the way to have a chance to sit on the throne, but Just BS was not part of that, as Sarah fired a 7.8 PPR, and her mom Bonnie hammered out an easy 8.2 to deservingly sit on the Queen Seat. Mike and Jason beat The Chuckers in the B-final to set up the match for the title. Game one was a long one, but Ain’t My Fault won it. It was much the same in game two, and it had the same finish, as Mike and Jason won their first Doubles Regional.
The Hawk doubles event was once again something else to watch. Dylan and Jonathan were sitting in the King Seat, but Louie and Patches were heating up and ready to try and double dip the King’s. Game one Patches not only held off Jonathan but fired an 11.2 PPR. His partner Louie also fired darts as they took game one 22-3 in five rounds. Game two was much closer but the Dispensable’s (Jonathan and Louie) pulled out the win and the Regional title.
POWER RANKING
TIER 3 Power Ranking.
- Jonathan– Stays in the number one spot. Jonathan going into the Regional Doubles final had a PPR over ten.
- Newson – with a big performance and a win in Singles on Sunday, there is no doubt Kevin will not be going anywhere.
- Spilly – still had the best PPR on Tuesday and continues to set the bar high for all the Hawks. Shooting an 8.92 over an entire event is good and Spilly is pushing the limits and making everyone better.
- Patches with a Tuesday win. On Sunday, playing against Jonathan, he did very well to not only hold him but also score points. With the pressure in firing 11.2, PPR shows his calm.
- Glen – Glen has been throwing great lately, and he is getting his cut bag to work, which gets him through some tough spots.
TIER 4 Power Ranking. These rankings are difficult to complete, with so many of the top players not playing every week.
- B-RAD with the top PPR on Tuesday still belongs at the top. He probably belongs in Tier 3 but while he is in Tier 4 this season he will be tough to knock of the top spot, but Bonnie is almost there.
- Bonnie Day – Bonnie was firing gold all week and, at this point in the season, has a chance to be the best Tier 4 player in BC at the Nationals.
- Oopsidacey—Mike is one of my favorite Pigeons. He shoots the numbers he does with Stich’s constant natter in his ear. Maybe once Jason realizes Mike is the better player, they will use Mike’s bags.
- Shawn – Shawn has been rocketing up the standings, firing great numbers, and seeing results.
- Ringo—I’m not sure what to do with this guy. He is good, but he does not seem like he really wants to be great.
